


life is a risk, but i will take it (close my eyes and jump)

by F0R3ST



Series: the horrible, no-good life of alex mercer (featuring some friends you already know the names of) [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Has A Sibling (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Has Anxiety (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Alive Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Canon Gay Character, Gen, He has like 4 sisters, How Do I Tag, I HAVE UPDATED THIS BC WE FINALLY GOT THEIR LASTNAMES, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Pre-Canon, alex lowkey dissociates when yelled at bc im a kinnie, also hes rich bc i said so, bc I said so, do i need to rate teen and up if there's only one swear?, im not gonna, middle child!Alex, this bad boy can fit SO many headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27410290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F0R3ST/pseuds/F0R3ST
Summary: “Shit, Alex. We knew you had money, but we didn’t realize it was this much.”---Luke and Reggie finally got Alex to cave into having them over and they realize why he never invited them
Relationships: Alex (Julie and The Phantoms) & Original Female Character(s), Alex (Julie and The Phantoms) & Original Male Character(s), Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: the horrible, no-good life of alex mercer (featuring some friends you already know the names of) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002894
Comments: 10
Kudos: 178





	life is a risk, but i will take it (close my eyes and jump)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first fic on Ao3, but not my first fic. I'm currently transferring this from docs to wattpad and here. (my user is willieswheelies for those interested). okay, that's all I had to add

The small 1994 ford mustang pulled into Alex’s driveway, meeting a garage detached from the humongous house next to it. It was a family home, but larger than Luke and Reggie could imagine. The blond looked at the boys in the passenger and back seats nervously. They knew his family had money, but they didn’t know they could afford this. The home was brick and had a large archway in the front to display the tall door in the middle. There were about thirteen windows total, one being on the second floor right above the door. This was excluding the three mini windows popped up from the roof, connected to the attic.

“Shit, Alex. We knew you had money, but we didn’t realize it was this much,” Luke said just above a whisper to the boy who had just parked next to the couple of other cars to the side of the house. Alex blushed and looked down.

He had a lot of privilege and grew up with a lot of people doing everything for him most of the time, but he envied Luke’s family. Why? Because they were an actual family and not just people who lived in the same house and happened to share DNA.

“I- okay. Disclaimer before we go in: they’re like, really formal. So my dad will probably want to shake your hand and my mom will ask you for your coats or something. Okay. Are we ready?” Alex cut himself off before he could ramble about how his family was and all the expectations. He was nervous and his bandmates could feel the anxiety radiating off of his body. Reggie just nodded and they all opened their doors.

“Hey, man. It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna meet, we study in your room for a while, and then Bobby’s dropping Luke and me off at home after his date. We got this,” Reggie explained as he made his way next to the pair from the backseat. The trio stood in front of Alex’s car before the boy in question nodded with a small smile and started walking down the stone path.

When Alex opened the door, the boys were in awe. The home was quite luxurious and had a staircase leading to a railed balcony-like hallway above the foyer that led to the large living room. Alex led them through the living room and up a few steps on the left to the kitchen. The ceilings weren’t as high as when they first walked into the house, but they were still tall. When they entered the kitchen, a blonde woman, shorter than Alex, spoke up before turning around as she prepped whatever they were to eat that night.

“I thought I heard someone,” His mom turned around with a cutting board, setting it on the island. “Alexander,” Luke and Reggie turned to Alex. They weren’t used to people addressing him with his full name. “Why don’t I take your coats and get your father. Then you can introduce us to your company. The woman with a seemingly fake smile widened it for a second and then moved past the trio (after taking Reggie’s leather jacket seeing as that was the only thing to take) and into a hallway on the other side of the living room. She disappeared and Luke looked away from where the blond’s mother once stood and to said blond.

“Alexander? Father? Man, you weren’t joking when you said they were formal,” The brunet joked in a low voice, not sure if the mom could still hear them. Alex just gave them a tight-lipped smile and a quiet “yeah.”

“Luke’s right. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone call you by your full name since we had that sub in 8th that wouldn’t use anyone’s nicknames. Just what was on file. The whole day we were Lucas, Alexander, and Reginald,” Reggie laughed fondly at the memory, but soon stopped when the woman and a man came out of the hallway. The man in the suit, Reggie could only assume was Alex’s dad, sat in the living room in one of the biggest chairs. The trio quieted and moved in front of the couch before being told to sit down. From one glance you could tell Alex wanted to get this done and over with so they could just hang out in his room.

“So, you two must be Alexander’s friends. I haven’t heard much, but from what I have gathered, you seem like steady gentlemen,” The large man didn’t smile. He just sat there and seemed to be staring into all of their souls at the same time. “How about we start with putting names to faces.”

“These ar-”

“They can speak for themselves, Alexander,” The blond quickly shut himself up and looked at his bandmates. Luke went first.

“Uhm, I’m Luke Patterson, Sir,” The teen smiled, just to be met with a cold face that turned and looked to Reggie.

“And I’m Reginald Peters, but you can just call me Reggie.”

“You can call me Mr. Mercer. Nothing else,” Alex’s dad nodded and turned to Alex. “Once you leave, you are to study. You hear? No goofing off. We don’t need our only boy to turn out a failure.” With that Mr. Mercer stood from his chair and walked back into his study. Then, It was Alex’s mom’s turn. The blonde woman smiled and nodded.

“You two can call me Sharon or Mrs. Mercer, don’t mind Walter. He really is only like this to scare you youngins,” Lie, Alex thought. She’s only like this to seem cool. She’s the one faking it. “Now why don’t you three head upstairs. Alexander will show you to his room where you can continue your studies. I want to see a good report card.” That last part was directed to Alex, who just nodded and did as she said and showed them to his room.

“Wow, Alex, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that quiet,” Luke said as he flung himself onto Alex’s full-sized bed. Reggie took a seat in the desk chair, nodded, and looked from the guitarist to the drummer.

“Yeah. It was weird.”

“What?” The sixteen year old scrunched up his face. “No. I just didn’t have anything to say. You’re the weird ones.” Alex dropped his bag by the door and sat at the top of his bed, while Luke was positioned at the foot. “Let’s just get to work. Yeah?” The boys sighed and took the notebooks out of the different backpacks (which would soon be laying open on the bed and floor, not much new added to them while the boys just talked).

About an hour or so later, a small blonde girl opened the bedroom door, earning annoyed “hey” from Alex and a “well you didn’t lock it, so it’s your fault” from the one in the hallway.

“Dinner’s ready and mom already set two extra spots up, so your friends can’t exactly say no. So wash up, it’s meatloaf night,” The girl smiled at the three boys, Alex responding in thanks as she shut the door behind her.

“Which one?” Luke asked after she left, but he still pointed to the abandoned white door.

“Uhh, Alicia,” Alex answered. “I think. Her and Alyssa have been switching clothes all week, so sometimes it’s hard to tell.” Luke nodded, his mouth in an O shape. The trio got up and all washed their hands before sitting down at the large dining room table. Luke didn’t have this many people in his house, so it was odd being in a formal dining room with more than four chairs. Reggie, on the other hand, never had sat-down dinners. He was always out on the stoop with his brother while his parents fighting could still be heard from the house. The boys observed as an older girl and two girls who looked the same (besides clothing) all sat down, Sharon and Walter Mercer at each end. The older girl sat in between Mr. Mercer and the middle seat Alex was at, Luke next to him and Sharon on the other side. Across from Luke was Reggie, and then the girl he guessed to be Alicia (Alyssa on her left).

“Who’s saying grace?” Mrs. Mercer asked the table. There were no responses so she looked to Alex. “Alexander, honey? Do you want to lead?” Alex knew that wasn’t a question, but more of a way to tell him “It’s your turn.” so the teen just nodded as everyone extended their hands to reach for the people next to them. Luke and Reggie awkwardly grabbed the family’s hands and looked down, confused as to what was happening. Yeah, Luke’s family was religious. But they only went to church on holidays and dug right into their meals. And Reggie’s reason was explained earlier: they didn’t use the dining room.

“Thank you, God for this gracious food and the people around me. Amen,” Alex finished quickly and there was a chorus of his last word going around the table. Everyone let go of each other's hands and started dishing up silently. There was a random news channel on in the living room, but nobody paid any attention to that.

“So, who’re Alex’s friends?” Alex’s older sister spoke up quietly. Alex bit his lip and started introducing everyone. He didn’t want to talk that night, but I guess it’s inevitable when your best friends are having dinner with your family for the first time.

“Uh, this is Reggie and Luke,” the sixteen year old explained as he motioned to the two as he said their names. Reggie stuck his hand up and gave a small wave while Luke smiled at the group of blondes. “Guys, this is Allison, Alicia, and Alyssa.” Alex repeated the motion he did for the boys, but with his sisters, the oldest to the youngest of the twins.

“I thought you said you have four sisters?” Reggie blurted, regretting it immediately as he saw all the Mercers tense up at the mention. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Alice i-” Alex tried to explain, but was cut off by his father for the second time that afternoon.

“Alice is a disgrace to the Mercer name and is not to be discussed at the dinner table,” Walter said loudly, making Reggie flinch slightly at the volume and Luke wonder how Alex didn’t react with anything other than a small “Sorry.”

Alyssa cleared her throat and interrupted the awkward and tense silence. “Can someone pass the salt?”

The next day they all sat in the studio, waiting for Bobby to get done being scolded by his grandma for taking the family car on a date without telling her. He tried to explain that no girl wants to be picked up in an old van from the 80s, but that’s all the boys heard before going to the studio to wait.

“Since we couldn’t really talk about it at your house yesterday,” Luke started and Alex sighed. He knew where this was going and he couldn’t escape telling them more than vague details about his family forever. “Who’s Alice?”

“Okay, uh. Alice is my oldest sister. She should be 20 by now. She very much hated our life and did every little thing to defy our parents. She even threw her crucifix in the harbour,” Alex let out a strained laugh and reached to the cross on the gold chain, rubbing it without a thought. The boys noticed this. “She listened to that punk rock Bobby likes and was always fighting with my dad. He only ever yells when he’s mad at us and he would be screaming for hours back and forth with her. Alyssa, Alicia, and I would always go to Ally’s room when they fought. We would just wait for it to be over and hope one of our parents didn’t walk in to find their ‘Golden Boy’ crying into an eleven year old’s arms. She, uh, she left in the middle of the night right before Christmas two years ago and she went to Seattle. That’s all I remember.”

Alex had a few tears on his face and Luke and Reggie looked at him with a look of sadness. The blond quickly wiped his face as Bobby opened the studio door, telling them he was grounded, but was still allowed to have practice in the studio. And with that, the conversation ended and the trio didn’t talk about Alice again.

Not until Julie Molina asked about family 26 years in the future.


End file.
